ATLANTA – Fans and a panel of college basketball experts have weighed in: Indiana's 1976 undefeated squad is the best team, Christian Laettner's buzzer-beater against Kentucky in 1992 the best moment and ex-college stars like Jerry West, Patrick Ewing and Michael Jordan the best players in the history of the men's NCAA tournament.

The voting was conducted by NCAA.com in honor of the tournament's 75th anniversary. The NCAA said more than 700,000 votes were cast, with fan voting accompanied by a panel of basketball writers, committee members and CBS Sports talent.

Indiana's 1976 team finished 32-0, capping the season with an 86-68 win over Michigan in the title game to give coach Bob Knight his first of three national championships. It remains the last undefeated men's team in Division I.

Knight set the tone before the Hoosiers' first practice of the season, the Hall of Fame coach said Friday.

"The day before practice, I brought you all together and I told you the only thing that would really matter, and the only goal that we would have, would be that we went undefeated," Knight said.

"And I told them winning the Big Ten, winning the NCAA would not be what they were capable of doing. I said, winning a season-long win, you beat everybody that we play, would be what you guys are capable of doing."

The team deserves its spot in NCAA history, Knight said. "I think there's never been a representative of college athletics as a team than these kids. And they were smart. They were all good students."

VIDEO: THE NCAA TOURNAMENT'S BEST OF THE BEST

Fans picked their favorite team, moment, and players from the 75-year history of the NCAA basketball tournament.

Laettner recalled the moments leading up to his game-winning shot in the 1992 East Regional final against Kentucky, a 104-103 win that pushed Duke to its fifth Final Four appearance in a row.

The buzzer-beating jumper illustrates the power of positive thinking, Laettner said Friday. Coach Mike Krzyzewski "didn't want us to have our heads down," Laettner said. "He said, 'We're going to win this game.'

"The genius of (Krzyzewski) was coming out right then," he said. "I guess I was the only sucker who totally believe him."

Laettner was also honored as one of the 15 greatest players in the tournament's history, along with a teammate at Duke, Grant Hill, who delivered the famous three-quarter-court pass in the final seconds against the Wildcats. Duke and UCLA – with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Walton – were the only schools with multiple players on the NCAA's list.

"We're very fortunate to have great teammates," Manning said. "Just a special time. I think anything the television comes on and you start to hear the music, it brings back a lot of wonderful memories. This is just a great time and very fortunate to be a part of it."

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The NCAA has released a list of 35 finalists for its top March Madness moments of all time. Take a look at some of the notable moments to make the list, including VCU going from the First Four to the Final Four in 2011.
Michael Thomas, Associated Press